A group, the Network for the Defense of Democracy and Good Governance, NDDGG, says it would not allow the imposition of the governor on the people of Rivers state in 2023.
The group also said that people of the state need a better deal in 2023, adding that the people must be prepared to participate fully in the electoral process to enthrone good administration that would bring about equitable development in the state.
Sobomabo Jackrich, the director of the group during the Official Opening of office and Inauguration of the State and LGA Executives of NDDGG in Port Harcourt, noted that what the state needs at the point was a total change in the next political dispensation, noting that the people would resist the imposition of a governor by any political leader.
According to him, a call for accountability was not witch-hunt that leaders should groan about, adding that the state needs only a leader that would be accountable in 2023.
“We gave you the power to lead us, that doesn’t mean that you are more powerful than us. We collectively gave you the power and now you deem us, slaves, we are not slaves, so when you current tenure expires or you finish leading according to your style, when you leave office, others will decide to bring in new leaders, not you.
“We will not allow you to bring in new leaders, because if you do, they will behave like you.”
Jackrich stated that the people were ready to fight injustice together despite their different ethnic groupings, adding that the state was not properly governed.
“We came here to fight the oppression and marginalisation happening in this state, Rivers State is a state with mixed ethnicities, we have the Ogba, Ikwerre, Kalabari, Abua and many others, no one is stronger than the other.
“We are all together in unity like marriage, but sometimes when a marriage doesn’t work, the couple can divorce and part ways. The way this state is being governed is bad enough to cause a divorce, but we will endure and fight and make sure we change the narrative.”
He further stated that people of the state deserve to be treated with respect, calling for better bonding among the people to end alleged enslavement.
“Rivers people deserve to be respected and the only way we can change this enslavement and tyranny is by our collective effort and how do we do it, go and get your voter’s card and go out to vote come election.
“You cannot vote in the house, you cannot vote with your debit cards, you can have all it takes but if you don’t have the authority to vote, then you are nothing.
“What all of us should be doing now is to make sure that we and our loved ones are registered properly and after registration is done we need to talk to each other, let us access everyone across party lines because a divided house will not stand, that is the only way we can change the governance narrative,” he added.
